central

adj.

1. Situated at, in, or near the center: the central states.
2. Forming the center.
3. Having dominant or controlling power or influence: the company's central office.
4. Of basic importance; essential or principal: “Performance, including technological invention and artistic creation, will become central to education at all levels” (Frederick Turner).
5. Easily reached from various points: a central location for the new store.
6. Of or constituting a single source controlling all components of a system: central air conditioning.
7. Anatomy.
   1. Of, relating to, or originating from the nervous system.
   2. Relating to a centrum.
8. Linguistics. Articulated in the middle of the oral cavity; neither front nor back. Used of vowels, as the u in cut.
9. Holding to a moderate ideological position between two extremes.

n.

1. 1. A telephone exchange.
   2. An operator at a telephone exchange.
2. An office or agency at the center of a group of related activities that serves to control and coordinate them: traffic central.

[Latin centrālis, from centrum, center. See center.]

centrally cen'tral·ly adv.

adjective

1. At, in, near, or being the center: center, medial, median, mid, middle. See edge/center.
2. Not extreme: intermediate, mean, medial, median, mid, middle, middle-of-the-road, midway. See edge/center.
3. Dominant in importance or influence: key, pivotal. See important/unimportant.

adj

Definition: main, principal; in the middle
Antonyms: exterior, minor, outside, peripheral, secondary

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Pertaining to a center; located at the midpoint.

• c. artery — of the optic nerve, the source of the retinal artery.
• c. channel — the fast-flowing channel through the capillary bed, the rate controlled by the metarterioles which exert a sphincter-like action on the system.
• c. convulsions — convulsions arising from stimulation of the central nervous system, as distinct from those caused by lesions elsewhere.
• c. cord syndrome — injury to the central portion of the cervical spinal cord resulting in disproportionately more weakness or paralysis in the forelimbs than in the hindlimbs; pathological change is caused by hemorrhage or edema.
• c. diabetes insipidus — see diabetes insipidus.
• c. European tick-borne encephalitis — see encephalitis.
• c. layer — central of the three layers of gray matter in the cerebellum; the principal cell type is piriform.
• c. nervous system — see central nervous system.
• c. peripheral neuropathy — see Boxer progressive axonopathy.
• c. progressive retinal atrophy — see central progressive retinal atrophy.
• c. projection law — the laws of physics applied to the primary x-ray beam of photons, e.g. the closer the object being x-rayed is to the film the sharper will be its definition.
• c. respiratory oscillator — pool of nerve cells in the pons and medulla oblongata which are responsible for the rhythmic to-and-fro movements of respiration.
• c. retinal degeneration — see retinal.
• c. sulcus — fissure of Rolando.
• c. tarsal bone — the bone of the hock which lies between the proximal and distal rows of tarsal bones.
• c. tendon of diaphragm — see diaphragmatic tendon.
• c. vein — the centrally placed drainage vessel of each hepatic lobule, receiving blood from the hepatic sinusoids.
• c. venous catheterization — insertion of an indwelling catheter into a central vein for the purpose of administering fluid and medications and for the measurement of central venous pressure (see below).
• c. venous pressure (CVP) — the pressure of blood in the right atrium, measured by an in situ catheter in the right atrium, is a much better guide of the degree of vasogenic peripheral failure than is arterial blood pressure. The technique is used mainly in dogs and cats.

IN BRIEF: At or near the middle.

The central part of the town had lovely old trees and a beautiful park.

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Dansk (Danish)
adj. - central
n. - central, omstilling, centralkomite

idioms:

• central nervous system    centralnervesystem
• central processing unit (CPU)    centralbehandlingsenhed, CPU
• central reservation    midterrabat

Nederlands (Dutch)
voornaamst, centraal

Français (French)
adj. - central, situé en centre-ville, principal, essentiel, (Admin, Pol) central
n. - échange téléphonique, (Télécom) opérateur, office/agence central(e)

idioms:

• central nervous system    système nerveux central
• central processing unit (CPU)    (Comput) unité centrale
• central reservation    (GB, Transp) terre-plein central

Deutsch (German)
adj. - Haupt-, zentral
n. - (Telkom.) Vermittlung, Zentrale

idioms:

• central nervous system    zentrales Nervensystem
• central processing unit (CPU)    (EDV) Zentraleinheit
• central reservation    Mittelstreifen

Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - κεντρικός, κύριος, πρωτεύων

idioms:

• central nervous system    (ανατ.) κεντρικό νευρικό σύστημα
• central processing unit (CPU)    (Η/Υ) κεντρική μονάδα επεξεργασίας
• central reservation    (Βρετ.) διαχωριστική νησίδα δρόμου

Italiano (Italian)
principale, centrale

idioms:

• central nervous system    sistema nervoso centrale
• central processing unit (cpu)    processore
• central reservation    spartitraffico

Português (Portuguese)
adj. - central

idioms:

• central nervous system    sistema (m) nervoso central
• central processing unit (CPU)    unidade (f) central de processamento
• central reservation    reserva (f) central

Русский (Russian)
основной, центральный

idioms:

• central nervous system    центральная нервная система
• central processing unit (CPU)    центральный процессор, ЦПУ
• central reservation    разделительная полоса

Español (Spanish)
adj. - principal, mayor, más importante, centralista, en el centro
n. - central, telefonista, caucho

idioms:

• central nervous system    sistema nervioso central
• central processing unit (CPU)    unidad procesadora central
• central reservation    mediana (en autopista)

Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - central, center-

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
中央的, 重要的, 电话总机

idioms:

• central nervous system    中枢神经系统
• central processing unit (CPU)    中央处理器
• central reservation    中央分车带, 路中预留地带

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 中央的, 重要的
n. - 電話總機

idioms:

• central nervous system    中樞神經系統
• central processing unit (CPU)    中央處理機
• central reservation    中央分車帶, 路中預留地帶

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 중심의, 중도적인, 중추신경의
n. - 본점, 전화교환국

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 中心の, 中心部の, 主要な, 便利な
n. - 中央アメリカ人, 電話交換局, 電話交換手

idioms:

• central heating    セントラルヒーティング
• central nervous system    中枢神経系
• central processing unit (CPU)    (電算)CPU
• central reservation    中央分離帯

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(صفه) مركزي, متوسط, اوسط‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮מרכזי, עיקרי‬
n. - ‮מרכזייה, מרכזן‬

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central	central air
Hardware Central	central paper